Covenant coach Ben D’Alessandro is all about process. He’s not one to get caught up in a single victory or a single loss, he’s constantly talking about his team’s journey.
But in what might become a breakthrough win against a tough, talented Spotswood squad, even D’Alessandro couldn’t help but get excited about the moment.
“It’s a good step because Spotswood is a very good team, they’re very well coached and they have a very good tradition,” D’Alessandro said. “When you play a team like that, there’s going to be moments where you can fold, but I really felt the holy spirit working on these guys — it was a real spiritual experience.”
Sam Dale led the charge for the Eagles in the 76-61 victory. Dale poured in 30 points and was critical to the Covenant defensive effort, jumping passing lanes and forcing turnovers for a big chunk of the night. But he had a lot of help from a team that appears to have clearly taken a step forward in the offseason.
Isaac Stewart-Silver poured in 19 points for the Eagles including a pair of 3-pointers. Maleek Frazier chipped in eight points while Nathan Hyde had a solid all around night with a couple of key blocks and nine points, including a breakaway dunk that slowed down the Trailblazers’ third quarter blitz.
Covenant withstood a big second half onslaught from Spotswood’s Marlon Organ, a silky guard who earned Harrisonburg’s Daily News Record’s player of the year honor as a junior in addition to second team all-state honors. Organ finished with 26 points against the Eagles, but he had to work for nearly every bucket he got.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for him—the big thing for us was that we did not want him to see gaps—if he sees an open space, he’s going to go after that,” D’Alessandro said. “When the ball was in his hands, our defense was different. We actually changed defenses in the middle of possession and then when somebody else had it we went back to our pressure.”
Organ’s efforts helped the Trailblazers slash Covenant’s 16-point halftime lead down to just four points near the end of the third quarter, but the Eagles didn’t get rattled. Frazier buried a 3-pointer early in the fourth to give Covenant a little more breathing room, and a couple of minutes later, Dale hit a pair of free throws and a bucket to extend the lead back to 10 points.
Kevin Jones and Jeff Lantz aided Organ’s efforts with 13 points each.
Now Covenant gets a chance to make a big-time statement against Western Albemarle tomorrow in the second round of the Holiday Classic.
